CHINA SPLASH OCTOBER 2017

No more “Keyboard Men”
The Internet-derived term—similar to troll—for people who hide behind online privacy measures to exhibit aggression to others on the web is almost over.

Now, the Chinese government is pushing out two new regulations aimed to reveal Keyboard Men everywhere. On September 7, the “Internet Group Information Service Management Regulation” dictated that group administrators on WeChat, Weibo, Tieba, Momo and more are now responsible to keep their members in line. If any illegal or malicious information is spread within the group, the admin must act.

Users of online services must now also provide real name authentication. Various apps and websites like WeChat, Weibo, Alipay, AcFun, etc. will require valid information to be used. Weibo users must have provided their real name authentication before September 15 to continue using. AcFun also (a video site) required users to provide information before Sept 27. (news.xinhuanet.com)Workerless Bookstore Debuts in Zhejiang
A total of 173 Xinhua bookstores throughout Zhejiang are debuting a “self-purchasing” service, which means customers buy books without any human interaction. There will also be two robots to help confused customers in two of these stores.

Shoppers first need to follow the WeChat account “杭州市新华书店” to register. After scanning the QR code in the store, a purchasing page loads. Then, simply scan the barcode on any product and pay via WeChat or Alipay. If users can’t find a specific book, they can “talk” to a robot named “Xiao Xin,” who will help.

At the start of every school season, parents and students normally wait in chaotic queues, arms filled with books. With the development of unattended stores, this situation might be improved. (dongguantoday.com)A monk and his 21 Children
In Nantong (Jiangsu province), a monk named master Daolu has persuaded about 130 women to forego abortion since 2012. The religious man also helps with raising the babies.

Over the years, Daolu has seen many poor, single mothers come to temple to pray for their unmet babies. Because he can’t bear to see them be killed, he convinces the mothers not to have abortions and later, have the babies move into his former home to grow.

Most of the children eventually return to their biological parents, but 21 children have been abandoned. Though Daolu takes care of the kids, he can’t apply for their hukou because he’s not their real father. Since he is actually not a certified monk, the children are unable to get a hukou under the temple. This all means that the children have no right to education, healthcare and will not be able to find a job later in life. (www.thepaper.cn)

Brazil’s anti-dumping investigation
Brazil is now at the center of price scandal for chicken products. To determine any misconduct, China’s Ministry of Commerce has launched an anti-dumping investigation. Since China levied anti-dumping duties on American chicken production beginning in 2010, Brazil quickly became the largest chicken supplier for mainland China. Officials from the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA) mentioned that Brazil exported nearly 650,000 tons of chicken to China from January to July of this year. “Since the global bird flu broke out, China imports more chicken products than ever from Brazil because there are no epidemic diseases there. In the second half of last year, we sold chicken to China at low prices because the domestic market was not good. But I don’t think it can be counted as dumping,” said Abréo árabe Neto, Secretary of the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC).

Mooncake Banned in 34 Countries
According to the concisely named “Catalogue of Animals and Plants, and Animal and Plant Products Prohibited from Being Carried or Posted into the People’s Republic of China,” mooncakes with meat or eggs are banned from being imported into 34 countries because of the risk of carrying quarantined illnesses.

While mooncake is an excellent medicine for curing homesickness, the relevant foreign departments remind buyers and senders to confirm the regulations of the receiving country before delivering. Otherwise, that mooncake might end up wasted in the trash—just like at home. (sina.com)

While mooncake is an excellent medicine for curing homesickness, the relevant foreign departments remind buyers and senders to confirm the regulations of the receiving country before delivering. Otherwise, that mooncake might end up wasted in the trash—just like at home. (sina.com)

VPN Seller Gets 9 Months
Courts recently sentenced Deng Jiewei to nine months’ imprisonment for selling VPNs. According to the complaint, Deng sold VPNs via a self-built website beginning in October, 2015. In total, Deng and his unnamed associate made about 13,900 RMB. Since Deng directly sold a tool aimed bypass China’s notorious firewall, he was deemed a criminal. The court ruled he had ignored China’s practically gray law by offering the program and tool to exit censorship controls.

At the beginning of 2017, the China Ministry of Industry and Information moved to strengthen control of VPNs in the mainland by threatening legal action. The institution even went so far as to pressure Apple Inc. into removing VPN applications from their strictly controlled app store. There is still no word on the legality of owning and using a VPN in Guangdong. (www.dw.com)